Some of Bach’s most charming music in a winning and idiomatic new arrangement for guitar.

While this selection of little musical gemstones is probably best known for its educational purposes in the keyboard world, this music can take on much more depth and poetry in the hands of a sympathetic interpreter such as the Belgian guitarist Jan Depreter. Compiled in 1725, the notebook is an intensely personal and charming compendium of favourite pieces played on a daily basis in the Bach household, from early-morning practice sessions to night-time lullabies and consolations.

For generations of music enthusiasts, Anna-Magdalena’s Notebook has provided an introduction to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and offered a unique insight into the musical life and character of the Bach family, as well as a rare glimpse of 18th-century domestic music making. The manuscript is arranged not in graded levels of technical difficulty but according to an artistic plan, beginning with the prelude from Johann Sebastian’s A minor Partita and ending with the chorale O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, taking in along the way the Aria from the Goldberg Variations as well as short pieces by his sons and ancestors. The aria from the cantate Ich habe genug!, shows how even highly organised compositions were freely adapted to fit a more intimate performance.

The German gitarre-und-laute.de site praised Depreter’s previous Brilliant Classics album for its ‘flawless and beautiful’ playing of the complete guitar music by Joaquín Turina (94973). He is an experienced professor of guitar based in his home city of Antwerp, and this album is the result of 20 years’ study and performance, being the combination of sessions that took place in 1999 and 2019. In whichever guise, the Klavierbüchlein ‘brings back some tranquillity and serenity to counterbalance the hectic struggle that is often modern day life,’ says Depreter. ‘It is the kind of music I would like to hear myself when coming home.’

1. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV140/645

2. O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 513 (Chorale no.42)

3. Gedenke doch, dein Geist zurücke, BWV509 (Aria no.41)

4. Menuet, BWV Anh.113

5. Marche, BWV Anh.127

6. Polonaise, BWV Anh.128

7. Musette no.22, BWV Anh.126

8. Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille, BWV510 (Chorale)

9. Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille, BWV 512 (Aria)

10. Marche no.16, BWV Anh.122 - Polonaise no.17, BWV Anh.123 - Marche no.18, BWV Anh.124 - Polonaise no..19, BWV Anh.125

11. Rondeau no.32, BWV Anh.131

12. Prelude no. 29, BWV846

13. Wie wohl ist mir, O Freund der Seelen, BWV517

14. Warum betrübst du dich, BWV516 (Aria no.33)

15. Menuet fait par Mons. Böhm

16. Dir, dir, Jehova, will ich singen, BWV299 (Chorale no.39)

17. Bist du bei mir, BWV508

18. Polonaise, BWV Anh.130

19. Recitative: Ich habe genug!, BWV82/2

20. Aria: Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen, BWV82/3

21. Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt walten, BWV691 (Chorale no.11) 

22. Les Bergeries, BWV Anh.183 (Rondo no.6)

 

23. Menuets nos.4-5, BWV Anh.114-115

24. So oft ich meine Tobackspfeife, BWV515a (Aria no. 20)

25. Marche no.16, BWV Anh.122 (reprise)

26. Menuet no..14, BWV Anh.120

27. Menuet no.7, BWV Anh.116

28. Schaff’s mit mir, Gott, BWV514 (Chorale no.35)

29. Willst du dein Herz mir schenken, BWV 518 (Aria di Giovannini no.37)

30. Menuets nos.36-15, BWV Anh.132-121

31. Aria no.26 “Goldberg”, BWV988/1